Japan

Thailand has said it would pursue its dream of hosting the Olympics despite rejection of its bid for the 2008 Summer Games.

Huge time-zone differences and an explosion in computer use will make Sydney's Olympics the biggest event yet on the Internet with officials predicting a staggering 6.5 billion hits for the official Games site alone.

The race to host the Olympic Games in 2008 has now begun in earnest following the announcement of the shortlist by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

North and South Korea may march together under the Olympic flag at the Sydney Olympics, and that could lead to powerful joint teams in international sporting arenas.

The ISMM Group (International Sports Media & Marketing) headquarters is on the move after 18 years in Lucerne.

The Japanese Football Association (JFA) has invited FIFA president Sepp Blatter to Tokyo to discuss next year's Confederations Cup following an apology from world soccer's governing body over its proposal for the tournament.

With professional baseball players allowed for the first time, high soccer hopes and a friendly time zone, the Sydney Summer Olympics should be a winner in Japan, officials have said. For the full details see the `FEATURES? section of SportBusiness.com.

The NHL is gearing up for the start of its regular season with a two-game series to be staged in Japan.

Irish public television broadcaster RTE has seen off a rival bid from satellite giant BSkyB to clinch the television rights to the Six Nations rugby tournament.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRFU) has announced that the All Blacks will play a Pacific rim Barbarians side in Tokyo in November.

iN Demand, the US pay-per-view network, is to showcase its first-ever sports production this autumn with the debut of five Sanex WTA Tour tournaments.

A new web site hosting the official web sites for a string of top sports men and women has been launched.

Former Japanese soccer champions Verdy Kawasaki have been given the go-ahead to change their name to Tokyo Verdy 1969 by the J.League's executive board as part of the club?s move to a new stadium.

Univision Communications, the US-based Spanish-language media company, has acquired the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language television rights to broadcast the final tournaments of the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006.

The head of South Korea's 2002 World Cup organising committee has resigned for personal reasons, a committee spokesman has confirmed.

A new race in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as well as first-time events in England, Germany and Mexico highlight the record 22-race FedEx Championship Series schedule for the 2001 season.